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Russian air force jet stops in North Korea before unusual flight toward Ukraine
A Russian air force passenger plane stopped in North Korea late Sunday night before flying toward western Russia, possibly making an irregular landing on an unusual route toward Ukraine, according to NK News analysis.
It is the third confirmed Russian government or military flight between the two countries since North Korea started sending thousands of troops to Russia earlier this month, following numerous similarly undisclosed flights since last year.
Flight-tracking website Flightradar24 shows that a Russian air force Ilyushin Il-62M with tail number RA-86561 took off Sunday from Vladivostok and headed down the North Korean east coast at around 9 p.m. KST.
It appeared to take off from south of Hamhung on the east coast, possibly from Wonsan-Kalma International Airport, and head for Vladivostok just a couple hours later at around 11:30 p.m. It then departed from there a few hours later and headed west across Russia.
Flightradar24 and ADS-B Exchange both indicate that the plane landed in what appears to be an agricultural field to the east of Saratov, located around 310 miles (500 km) east of the Ukraine border.
Planet Labs satellite imagery shows there is no runway and only agricultural fields in the location where the plane reportedly landed, though it remains possible there was a problem with the ADS-B tracking data. The circumstances of the flight and landing remain unconfirmed.
The Engels-2 strategic bomber airbase in Saratov nearby could have been where the plane landed or intended to land. This airbase has been the target of Ukrainian bombings this year, but it could also be a destination for DPRK military officers reportedly fighting in the invasion of Ukraine.
The ADS-B data shows the plane headed toward Engels south of Saratov before slowing and dropping altitude then turning south and looping back eastward just after 6 a.m. local time (UTC+4).
It looped back north and westward again over the village of Borodaevka as the data showed it dropping altitude to ground level and a speed of around 40 mph before ending transmission.
The same plane previously made trips to North Korea in July and August.
It’s possible the plane was in North Korea on Sunday to pick up or drop off key military officials, after South Korea’s intelligence agency claimed earlier this month that a top DPRK missile official was helping launch missiles at Ukraine and that Russian air force planes continued to make related flights to Pyongyang.
A Russian government Il-96-300 jet (RA-96014) made a roundtrip from Moscow to Pyongyang last Wednesday and another Ilyushin Il-62M jet (RA-86559) also flew the same route on Oct. 17.
Neither side has disclosed any ongoing travel by government or military delegations in the other country, though both have defended their right to engage in military cooperation under their mutual defense treaty signed in June.
NK NEWS